MEN AND MASCULINITIES

OBJECTIVES

1. Understand fully men’s studies and the constructs

of masculinity
2. Comprehend the themes of masculinity and its
relationship with well-being, fathering, domestic
roles, and drug and alcohol use
3. Differentiate hegemonic, protest, and caring
masculinities.
Essentialists views of gender are still popular and are
constantly reinforced in the media.
They are increasingly under challenge, not only in
biology but also in everyday life.
The rise of the women’s liberation movement, and
many feminisms that have followed on from it,
produced a massive disturbance in the gender
system and people’s assumptions about gender.
 Large numbers of men now acknowledge
that their position is under challenge, that
what they once took for granted about must
be re-thought, making men’s studies and
masculinity became popular.
 MEN’S RIGHTS LOBBY

“Men are now the gender victims as a

result and feminism having gone too far, with
men having increased responsibilities but few
rights around issues of marriage, divorce, child
custody and access to children.”
 MASCULINITY THEMES

 Masculinity is a social, cultural, and historical

construct dependent on and related to other
factors such as class, ethnicity, sexuality, age
and disability.

 Common themes strengthened

and developed this evolving
concepts.
 MULTIPLE MASCULINITY

No one pattern Different cultures

of masculinity and different
that is found periods of history,
everywhere. construct
masculinity
differently.
Some cultures/countries:
 make heroes of soldiers and regard violence as the ultimate
test of masculinity.
 look at soldiering with disdain and regard violence as
contemptible
 regard homosexual sex as incompatible with true masculinity
 No person can be a real man without having had
homosexual relationships.
 MEANING OF MASCULINITY DIFFERS

 in working class life from in middle class life

 in very rich and very poor
More than one kind of masculinity can be found within a given
cultural setting within a specific class.

This only shows that masculinities cannot be delimited to a sole

definition or description as various countries, culture and all
levels in life view this concept differently.
 HIERARCHY AND HEGEMONY

Some masculinities are more revered than others.

Others may be dishonored.
i.e. homosexual masculinities (modern Western culture)
Socially marginalized
i.e. the masculinities of disempowered ethnic minorities.
Exemplary, symbolizing admired traits
i.e. the masculinities of sporting heroes
 The form of masculinity which is culturally dominant in a given setting
is called hegemonic masculinity.

 “Hegemonic” signifies a position of cultural authority and leadership

but not total dominance.
embodies:
popular heroes
role models
fictional characters
 HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY
(Kimmel 1997)
-contains within it the image of the ‘man’ in power, a man with
power and a man of power.
We equate manhood with being strong, successful, capable,
reliable, in control.
The very definitions of manhood we have developed in our
culture maintain the power that some men have over other men and
that men have over women.
 HEGEMONY

 Meant ascendancy achieved through culture, institutions and

persuasion

 Hegemonic male norms stress values such as

courage technological skill
aggression adventure
autonomy toughness in mind and body
mastery
 HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY

is hegemonic not just in relation to other masculinities, but in

relation to the gender order as a whole.
It is an expression of the privilege men collectively have over women.

The hierarchy of masculinities is an expression of the unequal shares in

that privilege held by different groups of men.
 HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY

 Hegemonic masculinity is hegemonic not just in

relation to other masculinities, but in relation to
the gender order as a whole.

 It is an expression of the privilege men

collectively have over women
 COLLECTIVE MASCULINITIES

Gender structures of a society define particular

patterns of conduct of individuals as either “masculine”
or “feminine”.
These patterns also exist at the collective level-in
institutions ( corporations, armies, governments,
schools)
Masculinities are also defined collectively in workplace
and in informal groups.
 COLLECTIVE MASCULINITIES

 MASCULINITY exists impersonally in culture.

Video games
- i.e. circulate stereotyped images of violent masculinity.
Cinema and TV shows portray stereotypes of masculinity
-i.e. abandoning father
disgruntled student
abusive partner
drug convict
 COLLECTIVE MASCULINITIES

sports  (post pics)

- an aggressive kind of
masculinity is created
organizationally by:
 its structure
 pattern of competition
 system of training
 hierarchy of levels and
rewards
 MASCULINITIES AND WELL-BEING

 Research confirms a strong association

between rigid norms about what it means to be
a man and men’s negative health practices
and vulnerabilities.(Barker et al. 2011)
 MASCULINITIES AND WELL-BEING

MEN
when stressed
-unlikely to talk about their worries
- drink liquor
- engage in other destructive behaviors

conforming to stoic and rigid notions of masculinity contributes to

suicidal behavior and depression.
 MASCULINITIES AND WELL-BEING

Culturally dominant forms of masculinity

often urge men to practice strict emotional control
I
serve as barriers to health and help-seeking behavior
encourage some men to engage in practices detrimental
to their own health and that of their families.
 MASCULINITIES AND WELL-
BEING
(Pyne et al.2002;WHO 2004)
 Death and disability rates related to alcohol and substance abuse
are higher for men than for women
 Making substance abuse and addiction is predominantly male
phenomena worldwide
 Physical strength is requirement of a dominant masculinity
 Physical version of hegemonic masculinity has been promoted by
globalization (via film, toy and other goods.
- Toys reinforce the association of masculinity with violence,
even if this violence is sometimes heroic,
Family formation, fathering, caregiving
,domestic roles
 Domestic roles
-associated with women - Involve a loss of face for men

-increase in women’s labor force -less on men’s caregiving and

participation domestic roles

It has been shown that being

involved in the lives of their
children brings psychological and
health benefits to men.
(Dykstra and Keizer 2009)
 Family formation, fathering,
caregiving, domestic roles
 Research on child development demonstrates lasting benefits to
children of their fathers’ involvement, in terms of their confidence
and school performance (Ruhm 2000, Sarkadi et al. Bremberg2008)

 Better-educated men are more likely to put more time into domestic
roles and caregiving( Hernandez 1996;Garcia and Oliveira
2004;Barker and Verani 2008)

 Men’s schooling may have expanded their sense of norms and

weakened stereotypes through their exposure to broader ideas and
more diverse people
 MASCULINITIES AND ALCOHOL
AND DRUG USE
 more men drink than women(Room et al.2002)
 Drank alcohol in greater quantity and more frequently than women
and were more likely
 Men’s drinking encourages solidarity and stimulates courage
 When become drunk, fights and homicides are rationalized (Pange,
1998)
 Women are encouraged to tolerate men’s drubkenness as a natural
part of their being men.
 Drug use and drug dealing can serve as ways of constructing a
poerfully masculine identity(Collision 1996)
 3.COLLECTIVE MASCULINITIES

A. Protest Masculinity
B. Caring Masculinity
 PROTEST MASCULINITY

- is a form of marginalized masculinity

which picks up themes of hegemonic
masculinity in the society at large but reworks in
a context of poverty (Connel 2005).
-it is akin to hegemonic masculinity but in
socially-deprived contexts.
 PROTEST MASCULINITY

- refers to describe instances of extreme forms of

sex-typed behavior on the part of some males.
Key to the concept are high levels of physical aggression.
Its profile is also proposed as including :
- destructiveness, - drinking
- low tolerance for delay of gratification,
- crime - and similar dispositions
 MASCULINE PROTEST

-A term applied by Alfred Adler to an urge

to escape from the feminine role in life.

Masculine protest occurs primarily in women but

may also be found in men.
 MASCULINE PROTEST

In WOMEN such as:

-it consists of aggressivenes
attempting to take over masculine dress
the supposedly supreme
position of the male, or at male mannerisms
least to adopt sexual behavior
characteristics which are
associated with
masculinity.
 MASCULINE PROTEST

In MEN Adler (1924)

- it takes the form of - interpreted the
an extreme emphasis on: masculine protest as
self-assertiveness an overcompensation
conquest for feelings of
inferiority.
power
over other people
 MASCULINE PROTEST

In MEN In WOMEN
-it is usually applied to
it arises from their desire to compete with
feelings of men and deny their own
inadequacy, femininity.
insecurity, and infantile -it is a form of rebellion
doubts as to whether against the lower status
accorded women in our
they are really males. culture and the sense of
inferiority which it generates.
 PROTEST MASCULINITY

-is often the product of narcissism built from

deep feelings of powerlessness and insecurity.

Connell (1995) compares it to a ‘tense, freaky

façade, making a claim to power where there
are no real sources for power.
 PROTEST MASCULINITY
 Adler considered the masculine protest a prime
motive in neurotic disorder, for it sets up an
unrealistic and distorted goal that interferes with
relationship to others.

 This men and women develops an excessive,

insatiable drive to be masculine in the false sense
of dominating others.
 PROTEST MASCULINITY

 This goal is substituted for healthy motives

such as friendship, love and social interest.
 CARING MASCULINITY

The emergence of caring masculinities ,

highlighting the virtuous impact of this
reshape in male identities and practices
for gender equality improvements in
societies.
 CARING MASCULINITY

 After decades of women demanding equal

rights and for the end of male domination and
its harmful costs in their lives.

 It arise as a strong ally against hegemonic

masculinity.
 CARING MASCULINITY

- it proposes that men are able to adopt what is viewed as

Traditionally feminine characteristics
emotional expression interdependence
sensitivity caring
domestication etc.

without departing from or rejecting masculinity

 CARING MASCULINITY
- can be seen as masculine identities that exclude
domination and embrace the
affective
relational,
emotional
Interdependent qualities of care

- a critical form of men’s engagement in gender equality

 CARING MASCULINITY

- doing care work requires men to

resist hegemonic masculinity and to
adopt values and characteristics of care
that are antithetical to hegemonic
masculinity (Elliot 2016)
 CARING MASCULINITY

- it entails a mindful refusal of hegemonic

masculinity , the inherent prerogatives
(privileges, domination, power) and the plural
manifestations of “complicit masculinity” that it
assumes. (Aboim 2010)
 CARING MASCULINITY

MEN who approximate (note post pics)

this form of masculinity
are viewed as a form
of “new man”

Men taking care giving

roles instead of provider
roles
 REFERENCES

Peralta, Eric Paul,et.al. (2019) A Course Module for Gender and

Society: A Human Ecological Approach .Rex Book Store, Manila
Psychologydictionary.org/masculine-protest/
Researchgate.net/publication/314344031_Hegemonic_masculinity_vs_a
_caring_masculinity_Implications_for_understanding_
primary_caregiving_fathers